Rivers: UPTH doctors protest poor funding

RESIDENT doctors at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital took to the streets on Wednesday, demanding for the resolution of the problems that forced them to embark on strike since August 3, 2016.

The protesting resident doctors also called on the Federal Government to begin a forensic auditing of UPTH to find out the reason for the inadequate funding of units and departments of the hospital despite the existence of internally generated revenue.

They explained that their call rooms were in a decrepit condition and added that they had not been paid examination and update allowances for three years.

The protesters also alleged that the management of UPTH refused to address all contentious issues in the hospital since the strike began.

“We are not going back on our industrial action. It is surprising that all the contentious issues that made us to embark on strike in the first place have not been addressed,” one of the protesters said.

President of UPTH Resident Doctors, Achor Mike, decried a situation where UPTH authorities refused to address the lack of consumables for effective healthcare services and the cases of robbery around the hospital.

In his reaction, the Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Professor Aaron Ojule, alleged that the doctors decided to blackmail the hospital authorities.

Appealing to the resident doctors to call off their strike, Ojule said this was necessary in order to protect the interest of patients in the hospital.

He expressed regret that the resident doctors reneged on their pledge to save lives by their continued strike despite being on oath.